Redemption
by girlinatrenchcoat
Summary: He felt like he had been punched. His father, who had been dead for all of his life was standing in front of him. His daddy was right there, and all he could do was stare. "Alex?" John whispered. His voice carried across the room. "Dad?" Alex replied. [After Scorpia Rising, AU]
1. Chapter 1

I girlinatrenchcoat hereby disclaim this piece of (sadly) fiction and hope that I will, one day in the future, be the rightful owner of Alex Rider & co. (But we all know how likely that is...)

* * *

"I wonder why the Sarge called all of us to a meeting in the lecture hall today." Said Eagle, walking at a brisk pace with the rest if K-Unit following, none of them wanted to be late. It was a gloomy day, the clouds stirred creating the look of a tornado. But, the soldiers at Brecon Beacons were used to it.

"Well, you Idiot, that's why we're going!" Wolf exclaimed while shaking his head. Sometimes, he worried for Eagle. Snake choose this moment to speak up.

"Where's Cub?" He asked, actually worried for the kid. It was not every day a kid trained at Brecon Beacons.

"I'm right here," Cub replied seemingly appearing out of the shadows. It has been a week since he got to the SAS camp and the soldiers still haven't gotten used to him. Wolf just ignored him but Eagle was a little rougher. In fact, last night was not something Alex would forget.

* * *

_Alex woke up with a scream in the back of his throat and teeth drawing blood from his bottom lip. He just sat there, staring up at the wooden ceiling trying to get his breathing under control. Ever since Egypt happened, he hasn't had a peaceful sleep. His enemies hunted him whether he was awake or not, controlling his dreams and taking the shape of morbid creatures. _

_Alex got up and made his way across the Cabin and outside as quietly as he could. But it wasn't quiet enough for as soon as Alex was outside, Eagle jumped up and followed him. Alex made his way past the other cabins and toward the bath houses, but as soon as Alex entered the Toilet area, Eagle made his move. Eagle linked his foot around Cub's and pulled back causing the boy to fall. While Alex was on his stomach, Eagle Kneeled and placed a knee on Alex's back, exactly on the other side of where the bullet from the sniper entered his body. _

_Alex groaned at the pressure on his back but Eagle mistook this for weakness and taunted him._

_"Bloody school kid, can't even take being tripped without crying out in pain. You know what you are Cub?" he paused as if waiting for a response. When he got none, he dug his knee deeper into the boy's back and yelled into his ear, "Answer me Maggot!"_

_Immediately sensing danger, Cub grunted out, "No Sir!"_

_Eagle smiled, and Replied, "A wuss Cub, a wuss. And do you know what we do to wusses Cub?"_

_"No sir," Came the response._

_"We give them a good dunk in the toilet." And with that, Eagle got up and dragged poor Alex over into a stall and tried to shove his head into the Toilet Bowl. However, Alex held on to the seat of the toilet and pushed backward, doing everything he could to stop his face from being submerged in the brown, murky water of the toilet. But the scar on his chest caused a burst of pain from the overexertion and his arms gave out. The sudden release of force caused his head or to flying into the water but on its way his head his the seat of the toilet. That was going to leave a nasty bruise_

_Eagle smiled a sadistic smile and started counting the seconds the brat was underwater._

_1 (He could do this)_

_._

_2 (Just hold his breath)_

_._

_3 (Don't panic, whatever you do don't panic)_

_._

_4 (It can't be much longer)_

_._

_5 (His chest was starting to burn)_

_._

_6 (His chest was throbbing)_

_._

_7 (God, it was like being water boarded by the CIA all over again)_

_._

_8 (Can't take much longer)_

_._

_9 (he could hear his heart beating in his ears) _

_._

_And_

_. (Come on!)_

_. (Hurry up!)_

_10! _

_He let the kid up, not wanting to drown the boy and left, running for the safety Cabin because he knew that whatever happened, his unit would always take his side and hey, majority rules. Alex fell over backward and lay there gasping for breath, his face pale as the moon. He reached up and used his sleeve to wipe off the grime from his face. Then and there, he swore, he would get his revenge, one way or another. _

* * *

Last night wasn't the first time it happened either. Every night for the one week he had been here, one of the teammates (never _his_ teammates, always _the _teammates) would do something to him, whether it was verbal or physical, it was something and it hurt.

"Come on Cub, we can't spend all day daydreaming!" Their taunting was merciless this time it was Snake. The good thing about Snake was in his mind, violence was the last possible option. When Snake saw the bruise on his face this morning, his face immediately morphed into one of disapproval at the other two members on K-Unit. Eagle couldn't meet his eyes and Snake know that it was him.

Finally after what felt like forever of unrelenting taunting, they finally reached the lecture hall. They stepped through the doorway one after the other with Cub coming in last.

After he saw the picture being projected onto the board, his face lost all the characteristics that made him look like a kid and more like a spy. His eyes lost all feeling and emotion, his lips retreated into a thin line, and his sense of self-pity disappeared and was replaced with Rage. Rage at Scorpia. Rage at Ash. The picture on the board was John Rider.

* * *

The rest of the Units noticed the change in the boy as he made his way over to the last available seat in the front row, next to Eagle. Cub didn't mind though. All he could think about was why his father's picture was on the board.

Were they going to learn about him?

What he did for his country?

Which story will they learn, the real one, or the cover story?

With all this circling around in his head, he almost missed the start of the lecture.

"Today, we have a different kind of lecture. Normally this would be classified information but MI6 gave all of you in this room today the necessary clearance." The sergeant said.

"The man on the board behind me is John Rider, codenamed Bear. He was one of the best soldier I have ever seen and was here around 15 years ago. He never leaves a man behind, no matter what the man did to John. All of these didn't matter to him. And that was why he was recruited into MI6 for an undercover mission. A mission involving Scorpia."

The entire room inhaled at the mention of the name. Everyone, except Alex. He already know this and didn't know how much longer he could take.

"He was sent deep undercover into the organization as a recruit with a cover story that he was dishonorably discharged. Scorpia needed a man of his talents. John could shoot any target from a greatest distance of 200 meters. He was going to train to be an assassin. Rider moved through the ranks and soon became one of Scorpia's best operatives.

Time passed and it soon got too dangerous for Rider to be there. He wanted out and MI6 gave it to him. Rider got himself captured by MI6 at the same time Scorpia kidnapped a boy by the name of George Adair. They traded John for Adair in which MI6 pretended to shoot Rider and fake his death. A couple of days later John and his Wife were on their way to France in a plane went a Scorpia bomb killed them both."

The room was silent at the last sentence. But, nobody was affected more than Alex. His head was bowed and his eyes were scrunched up as if trying to push those images from his mind. Eagle noticed Cub's position and whispered into his ear, "Scared double-o-nothing?"

The taunting never stopped. _Ever._

"All of what I told you is true, except for that last sentence. John Rider is Alive."

Alex's head snapped up and gazed directly into the eyes of the sergeant.

Was this all an elaborate prank?

How could this be true?

At that same moment a man walked into the room. He had the same blond hair and eyes as Cub but the only person who noticed this was Cub himself. He was a Xerox of the man on the board. The confidence and authority he possessed filled the room and caused every soldier in the room to stand up and applaud. They were applauding for the man's courage and integrity.

John Rider's eyes immediately scanned the entire room making sure he didn't miss a face but Alex, being shorter than the rest of the men could not be seen.

Alex couldn't decipher all the thoughts and emotions running through him but one thing was clear: he needed to see his dad. Alex pushed his way through the crowd; none of the soldiers liked being shoved aside. Finally, Alex made it to the front of the pack and locked eyes with John Rider. He felt like he had been punched. His father, who had been dead for all of his life was standing in front of him. _His daddy was right there_, and all he could do was stare.

John felt the air whoosh out of his lungs and his face morphed one of shock. The soldiers stopped clapping and it was dead silent in the lecture hall. Everyone was watching the reaction between the two.

"Alex?" John whispered. His voice carried across the room easily.

"Dad?" Alex replied.

At this moment, Alex couldn't help it. It was like a magnetic attraction between him and his dad. Alex launched himself into his dad's outstretched hands and pulled him into a fierce hug. Alex couldn't help it, he buried his head into his dad's neck started crying. And, much to Alex's surprise, John started to shake.

"Alex, I'm so, so sorry." John whispered. They stayed like that for a long time.


	2. Chapter 2

Time passed and they let go of each other. Alex's head was swimming in a pool of questions he had for his Dad but judging by the look in his eyes, now was not a good time. They both turned to face the crowd that had unabashedly been staring at their intimate moment.

K-Unit was in the front of the crowd, looking anything but amused. Wolf looked a little sad but quickly exchanged the saddened look for one of indifference. Snake looked crushed, but Alex didn't understand why. Eagle had a confused look of his face and looked as if he wanted say something incredible stupid, which of course, he did.

"What's with the big huge reunion, didn't you just see each other a week ago?" Eagle asked, referring to the time Alex wasn't at camp.

John studied the way all three of them were looking at his son and came to a conclusion.

"So, you must be Alex's unit. And, by the look on your faces, you haven't been very welcoming to my son." John stated. The look on his face could be described as lethal, the same way Alex looked when he was on a mission. K-Unit shrunk back and immediately realized they were not to mess with him.

"Y-yes sir, we w-would b-be K-Unit." Snake answered, saving Eagle from answering.

"Right… anyway, let's continue with your lecture so you know a little more about me before you jump to conclusions like some of you already have." John answered directing a glare at Eagle. Honestly, Alex felt a little left out at this point. It _was_ his father. John, seemed to notice and slipped an arm around Alex's shoulder and walked to the front of the room.

He started, "To recap, my name is John Rider and, as you can see, I am alive." At the last phrase, Alex went rigid, it wasn't everyday a dead parent came back to life.

"It is true that Scorpia tried to kill me with a bomb. The bomb wasn't properly placed to cause proper damage to a plane with the level of protection it had. It was a The Gulfstream G65 plane with the bomb placed in the front landing wheel. But, my wife and I were sitting at the far back close to the emergency equipment and an emergency door. About two minutes before the bomb went off, my wife, Helen, had to use the bathroom but the one closest to us was out-of-order. She had to use the one near the pilots' cabin. She was in the bathroom at exactly the moment the bomb went off. She and the pilots died immediately."

John still had his arm around Alex. He paused and squeezed Alex's shoulders before continuing.

"I was still in my seat when the bomb went off. Luckily behind my seat was the emergency equipment. And, because MI6 was paranoid, there were a couple of parachutes. I strapped myself in and jumped out of the emergency exit. Since the bomb exploded a few minutes after we had taken off, it wasn't that high in the air although the smoke made it hard to see after I opened the emergency door.

But, it was nothing I wasn't used to since I was a part of the Parachute Regiment a while back. The jump was successful. MI6 gave me a fake identity and everything but I was forbidden to make contact with any of my family of people who may have known John Rider."

He finished his choppy speech leaving a lot of questions left to answer. First was one from a soldier by the name of Tiger.

"Um… Sir? What position did you hold in the Parachute regiment?"

John replied in a one word answer, "Captain." That one word gave him twice the respect they initially had. "Next Question."

This time the soldiers raised their hands. John pointed at the soldier named Raccoon.

"Why did you come out of protection now?"

John answered, "Because Scorpia has made a threat against someone the head of MI6 said I knew, although she didn't tell me who." His reply left everyone but Alex wondering who that person was. Alex already knew who it was.

"Last question," John called. His deep voice was oddly familiar to Alex. John pointed to the lone man who raised his hand.

"Why did you not know your son was going to be here… sir?" He quickly added 'sir' to the end to make it sound polite. It didn't work.

John's face turned stony. His expression screamed 'why do you care' but his mouth let out, "Well, the head MI6 didn't feel the need to tell me that."

Alex smirked to himself. He knew that from experience. Lots of experience. John glanced down at his son. The look on his face said it all – he wanted an explanation.

The Sargent took this as a cue to step in and take charge once again. "Soldiers, you are dismissed to your barracks."

The men knew better than to disobey the Sargent's orders so they left immediately. Alex, however, stayed back. The Sarge noticed this and started to yell at the boy.

"Cub, what the hell do you think you are doing. I dismissed you! Do you even know what that means?" John stopped the Sarge before he could get too worked up.

"Hey Sarge, calm down, I wanted to talk to him."

"Well," The Sargent replied, "You could have said so." He angrily stomped off muttering something about 'incompetent fools' only adding to his humiliation. After the Sarge walked away, John turned to Alex and asked the one question that had been on his mind since the moment he saw his son.

"What are you doing here at an SAS training camp!? You shouldn't be here, you should be at home in Chelsea with Ian!" John's voice had a frantic edge to it. His son shouldn't be here, he should be at home doing whatever teenager were doing these days. But wait…no…could he be the one Scorpia was threatening? That couldn't be true could it? With his inner ranting, he almost missed the answer Alex gave him.

"I am now the legal _property_ of MI6 now," Alex twisted the word 'property'.

"What are you talking about? What happened to Ian?" John asked already bracing for the worst.

"He was shot and killed by Yassen Gregorovich," Alex calmly answered to the man in front of him.

"How do you know who Yassen Gregorovich is?" Asked a shocked John.

"I met him once or twice…" Alex hesitantly answered. He knew better than to lie based on the stories Ian had told him.

"Start at the beginning." Commanded John. Honestly he had no idea n how to deal with Alex. He knew how to change diapers, burp him, and get him to eat his mushy baby food but not how to deal with a teenager! He was hopeless.

So, Alex did. He started at that fateful day the doorbell rang and continued to Jack. He told his Dad about how much he loved Jack and how much Jack had done for him. He told his dad about Tom and how he almost got killed because of him. Finally he told his Dad about Cairo and his mission that went downhill.

And his Dad listened. His brow furrowed and had a disapproving expression on his face when past Alex did something terribly dangerous and foolhardy. And smiled with a smug expression when he was proud of Alex.

Alex finished his speaking and looked down waiting for his Dad's response. John knelt and looked up at Alex. He whispered, "Hey Alex?"

Alex let out a small 'Hmmm'.

"Look at me." John silently asked of his only son. Alex complied and looked at his dad. The expression on John's face was one of pure happiness and a proud father.

"You did what you had to do. None of what happened was your fault." John looked down and whispered, "I just wish I could have been there for you."

"Well, I don't blame you. I blame Blunt and Jones for that." With that Alex gave his dad another quick hug. It was nothing special, just a Cub giving his papa Bear a hug.

* * *

While John and Alex were having an intimate moment, they didn't notice a figure slip away to hide into the shadows. The figure was Wolf. He had heard everything Cub had to say and was on the way to relay the news to the rest of the unit. Wolf had learned to respect Cub after the Point Blanc mission but he had just kept quiet about given that he had signed the OSA and all. He made his way through the dark and unforgiving woods taking the shorter way to the Barracks.

Finally, Wolf arrived at his Units' hut and entered.

"You wont believe what I heard…" Wolf started to say.

* * *

"So _dad, _where are you gonna sleep tonight?" Alex grinned at his father.

John, noticing the emphasis pun on the word 'dad' also grinned and replied, "Well _son_, the Sarge told me a bed had been set up in K-Units Barrack."

"Well, looks like the Sarge had a heart after all." Replied Alex.

Together they both exited the lecture hall and started walking toward the Barracks. A they walked John remembered a fairly important tidbit he forgot to tell Alex.

"So, the Sargent assigned me to train the Units for certain covert operations techniques." John stated, out of the blue. He still felt a little awkward with Alex regardless.

Alex replied, "Oh really, like what?"

"Well things like-" He cut himself off and instead said while wiggling his eyebrows, "You'll just have to find out with the rest of the men."

"But daaaaaaaad!" Alex whined sounding more like the teenager he was supposed to act like. That thought made John's heart clench.

"But Aleeeeeex!" John mocked back.

"Ya know dad, I think you should call me Cub when we are here." Alex replied, faking being hurt from his Dad's actions.

"Whatever you say, squirt," Replied John.

They reached K-Units hut and entered, not having a care in the World of what was going to happen in the future. They were happy living in the moment.


	3. Chapter 3

**Merry Christmas! Have a safe and happy holidays! :)**

* * *

The abandoned warehouse looked ominous in the flickering light of the lantern hanging on the slightly skewed pole. There was not a soul in sight except the rugged looking man in the ripped winter coat. He pushed the shovel into the snow pile, picked up some snow and dumped it on what looked like a small rectangular bulge in the ice-cold ground. But, looking closer, there was a pale hand connected to five fingers peeking out of the mound. This man who looked like he was shoveling snow was actually a part of the clean up duty. In fact, all the mounds around the warehouse were dead bodies of people who have wronged the organization. This organization was the new and improved Scorpia composed of new people and new leaders that had a higher goal than what Scorpia had.

The organization in question was actually having a secret (aren't they all secret?) meeting inside the warehouse in an underground bunker that was recently reinforced to withstand the force of a nuclear bomb. But what was going on in the meeting, no one except the select few in the meeting actually knew.

Anatoli Malikov was among these men only because of his position as a Russian bred business man in Europe. His gross profit exceeded a couple million dollars a year but almost a quarter of it went uncounted for. This money went to human trafficking. He owned numerous shipping yards over the world which he used to transport the innocent people, kidnapped from their home towns, and sold them to wealthy and corrupt government officials in exchange for government leeway. The most recent policy was passed in Britain and made it easier for foreigners to enter the country and become naturalized citizens.

Inside the bunker, there was a heated debate going on between two of the most powerful leaders of this organization - Henri Colbert and Fritzi Herbert, both were best friends.

"We must prove to others that we are strong!" Said Henri in a quiet yet dangerous voice. "We are known as the henchman to everyone in our community because the only thing we have done in KILL those who are not useful to us!"

"We must kill to get them out of our way! How else can we rise?" Fritzi replied calmly, his eyes scanning the room. There was a total of five men in the room not including himself and all of them, minus Henri, looked bored.

"RIght, and this killing had brought us to the attention of government organizations. Organizations that we don't want up in our business." Replied an agitated Henri.

"Well, have I told you of a certain plan involving MI6?" Asked Fritzi, looking quite evil.

"No you haven't," Replied Henri.

"You know who Alex Rider is I presume? Well he has caused Scorpia quite some problems and it is no doubt he will do the same for us. So, this time we must strike first and be over with it." Fritzi stated to the entire room.

* * *

The door of K-unit's barrack swung open announcing the arrival of a soldier. However in this case, it was Cub and his father, John Rider. John immediately noticed that something was going on by the way K-unit was sitting together is a circle-like shape discussing something. Their discussion stopped abruptly when they entered and made John a little suspicious. Alex was used to these secret group meetings which he was not a part of so he walked to the far side of that Barack and sat himself down on his cot. He had long since lost the will to find out what they talked about. What was the point? It's not like anything would change. If anything, their constant bullying would probably just increase. There was no bright side to things.

John noticed the sudden but subtle change in his son. As soon as they entered the Barack, the light in Alex's eyes seemed to dull therefore causing the innocent look on his teenage face disappear. He was no longer Alex, he was Cub, the quick thinking spy with the luck of the devil always on his side. Just when would his luck run out? The last thought caused John to shiver.

"Well, you must be K-Unit." John stated, sweeping his eyes around the small space. His sharp eyes caught the awkward way the covers of Snake's cot were arranged which led him to deduce that Snake was more secretive than he assumed. '_Well_' he thought, '_you know what they say about assuming: it makes an ass of you and me_.'

A sheepish Eagle stood up and said, "Yes sir, I'm Eagle, the sniper of the Unit. That dwarf with the crooked nose is Wolf, the team leader. And lastly, the Scottish bloke is the medic whose name is Snake." Somehow Eagle managed to be partly playful in his introductions. The rest of the unit (minus Cub of course) just ignored the crude descriptions of themselves and just nodded in John's general direction.

It was clear by the actions of K-Unit that they were - or used to be - hostile towards Alex. '_That was going to change pretty quickly after tomorrows training_', John thought.

John turned towards the so-called medic and asked, "How did Cub get that bruise of his face?"

Snake face went slightly red and he responded with a shameful 'I don't know sir'.

John sighed and turned to the rest of the group, "Well, do either of you know?"

The groups faced went slightly guilty for not knowing but John noted that Eagle tried to mask his emotions. It was clear that Eagle would make a terrible spy with his tough soldier look.

John walked over to Eagle and bent down to his face was next to the man's ear. He whispered, "Stay away from Cub or you will regret it."

John went to his cot and sat down, never breaking his eye contact with Eagle. Both of them knew it was an empty threat but it was a threat nonetheless and Eagle didn't like threats, no matter who (or where) they came from.

Alex laid in his cot staring at the all too familiar ceiling. He couldn't help but think about the conversation he had with his Dad earlier when John asked him 'Why don't you hate Yassen Gregorovich?'.

Alex had responded honestly and said 'I don't know really. Its probably because he was truly innocent. He didn't know that your death of the bridge was a set up - he believed it, just like I did for a while. He thought he was helping me and in a way he was. He lead me to find out the truth of what happened that day. But mostly, I think it's because he refused to kill me. Multiple times. I don't know why I don't hate him but I don't like his either.'

His father just nodded with understanding at him like it made perfect sense. That makes one of us who understand thought Alex. He rolled over and tried to sleep.

* * *

_In his dream he was being chased to three men dressed in Balaclavas and armed in machine guns._

_Jump_

_Duck_

_Drop and roll_

_He felt the sting of a bullet as it grazed his upper arm but he couldn't stop. He must keep running, even if it killed him. He glanced back at his pursuers only to find them morphing into rabid dogs ready to rip into his limbs. But for some reason, the dogs looked oddly familiar._

_Where had he seen them before?_

_There was no way he had seen them before but there they stood, before his eyes. There was three feet between the dogs and himself. Any sudden movement and Alex was sure that they would attack._

_Suddenly the dogs grew in size growing taller and wider, slowly closing the space between them. Alex took a step back, and another, and another. The dogs stopped growing but they were at least ten times their original size. They took a step forward, shaking the ground. Alex mirrored their actions by taking a step back. The three dogs then crouched down on their front legs and pounced as if trying to crush him._

_No!_

_He had to run!_

_He had to run._

_He had to run..._

* * *

John opened his eyes at the sound of someone struggling. He immediately got up from his cot and checked his watch. It read 2:23 A.M.

He scanned the room only to find Alex, his son, soaked in sweat and whimpering, pulling his sheets up to his chin. John quickly ran over to Alex's cot trying his hardest to no take a noise. John knelt, not noticing how cold the ground was, and ran his hand through the wet, cold locks of his son's hair. Alex's. Face immediately returned to a peaceful look with the touch if his father.

John removed his hand for his son's hair and covered his face.

Who would do this to a child?

The missions Alex told him about didn't sink in until now. The true horrors Alex had face would never leave him alone. John sucked in a deep breath to steady himself and got off of the ground. Once again he gazed at his son but this time he vowed, they will pay. Blunt, Jones, whoever authorized this must pay for their sins. Scorpia and anyone after Alex will pay as well. No one will be left. But, John would start with the soldiers here at Brecon Beacons. The soldiers because they never let Alex feel like he was safe. Tomorrow was when this would start but for now, John climbed back into his cot because he needed the sleep. Tomorrow...


	4. Chapter 4

***psst* It wouldn't hurt to review...**

* * *

_—"Treat me like I'm special, because I don't know how that feels."_

Alex walked into the mess hall, his eyes cast downwards. He was very ate so he was lucky to get anything to eat. Of course, this was not his fault. How could he be blamed for having never-ending nightmares? Alex overslept because his unit conveniently "forgot" to wake him up — or so he thought.

What Alex didn't know was that K-Unit had overslept as well! They were in such a hurry to get ready themselves, they didn't realize not everyone was awake. The also didn't notice John was missing. They were soldiers for a reason. In battle, they never left a comrade behind; however, everywhere else, they were free from responsibility, free from the pressure.

Alex walked into the empty line for breakfast and was not shocked to find no food left. The SAS prided itself for the stamina and strength of their soldiers. This was the main reason they only had two meals a day — one was breakfast, the other was dinner. Alex would have to starve the rest of the day or sneak into the kitchen. The latter, while tempting, would be something Alex wouldn't dare. If he was caught, he would be turned over to his unit who would be left to deal with his punishment. Alex would rather starve than face the wrath of his unit, even if his dad was there.

Speaking of his dad, where was he?

Why didn't he wake Alex up when he overslept?

Suddenly all the trust Alex had in his dad, vanished. Yeah, he was his father but he would have to earn the trust back ... or at least explain himself.

Alex was about to leave the mess hall and wander around the grounds when he heard a call coming from behind him.

"Hey Cub, where do you think you're going?"

Alex turned around to face the soldiers. None of them seemed to have stirred from their conversations enough to notice him let alone call out to him. Just as Alex was about to turn back around he felt a hand touch his shoulder.

Alex immediately crouched, his knees bent into slightly and he shifted his weight onto the balls of his feet. He kept the rest of his body relaxed to trick his opponent into thinking he wasn't going to fight back. All of this was done instantly without a second thought from Alex.

Alex turned towards his 'attacker' with his emotionless eyes only to find Snake.

"Come sit with us Cub." Snake said to him. It was more like a command with implications that if he didn't obey, there would be consequences. Alex didn't relax his stance but simply nodded towards Snake and followed him to where Snake was sitting along with the rest of the unit, his dad, and unfamiliar soldiers.

The stares of the remaining soldiers in the mess hall were trained on him and Snake but neither paid them any attention.

In the back of Alex's mind, there was a foreboding thought that this was a trick, that something was going to happen. He didn't know what though.

Alex and Snake arrived at the rather crowded table but was pleased to find an extra seat next to his father. He took a seat while throwing a cautious glance to the others around him. Alex never lowered his guard even though his dad's presence should make him feel safe. In Alex's mind, trust was precious and earning back trust was no easy feat. However small the misdemeanor was, John had betrayed Alex and Alex was hurt.

John noticed the presence of Alex but made no outward response towards him. John stole a quick glance to his side and was suddenly aware of the fact that Alex had to food in front of him. 'Well' John thought, 'Looks like there was no food left'.

"Hey John, you were in the middle of telling us of your mission in Istanbul..." A nearby soldier called out, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen upon the group.

"Right," John said, breaking out of his stupor, "So I realized the man I now held at gunpoint didn't have the briefcase on him! It was a real inconvenience I tell you! I had gone through all this trouble to find this man, only to realize it was all for nothing! So anyway..." John continued on with his story but Alex paid no notice. All he could do was stare at the half eaten tray of food in front of his dad. God, the mess hall's excuse for a meal was starting to look like a gourmet dinner.

John, without looking in his son's direction, pushed his tray to where Alex was sitting and continued on with his story. Alex looked at his dad in confusion. 'Why did he give me his tray?' Alex thought. Alex kept on staring at his dad but John never returned the stare.

Alex internally shrugged and starting to scarf the food down. In a matter of minutes, the tray was as clean as it could get. Alex looked around once again at the interested and awestruck faces of the soldiers surrounding his father not even glancing at his presence. This was quite a change from before. Before his dad got here, Alex was treated as an outcast; he was picked on, taunted and bullied and he had done nothing about it. He didn't want to do anything about it.

Back at home, Alex hated bullies. That was how he became friends with Tom. But Jack, Jack always told Alex that bullies will leave you alone if you ignored them. Now that Alex thought back, he should have listened to Jack sometimes. Jack was, and still is, right.

RIght now, Alex knew he was getting upset over nothing. He needed to get out and be free. But how? All of a sudden the walls of the mess hall felt like they were pushing inwards. They were suffocating Alex. He needed to get out.

Alex, as quietly as he could, got up from the table and wove his way between the chairs of the other soldiers so he could get to the door. The walls pushed in harder on his mind and Alex felt like his head would explode if he didn't get out. Only a couple more steps ... and there! He was outside but he couldn't relish in the sudden burst of freedom he felt. It was dangerous for Alex to be alone and in plain sight at camp. He took off at a sprint towards the lake but right before he reached the path the stretched around the lake, he took a sharp left and danced around the trees of the woods he entered. Never slowing down his speed, he kept running until he reached a hidden clearing which was open to the lake.

It was a beautiful view. In the distance he could see the lake meeting the sky creating an almost endless body of water in different shades of blue. Alex laid down on the ground and let his head rest on his hands. He sighed and looked up at the clear sky. The storm clouds from the day before cleared away over night. It was unusual as the soldiers were used to the endless gloomy weather.

Looking at his watch, Alex relaxed realizing he had close to twenty minutes until he had to go to the large instruction room. His schedule didn't say what he was supposed to be doing there but he deduced that it was the Covert Ops training his dad told him about yesterday.

ON the subject of his dad, Alex wasn't sure how to feel towards his dad. Yesterday he was warm and comforting towards him but this morning, John just ignored his. Yes, he gave him the rest of his breakfast but, to Alex, it felt like he was disappointed in him.

'Well,' Alex thought, 'It wasn't my fault I couldn't sleep last night and it also wasn't my fault I woke up late today.'

Once again, Alex sighed and ran his hand through his grimy hair and slightly tugged at it. Alex was frustrated with his dad and rightfully so. When they were alone, John acted like a dad should; but, then there was other people around them, John acted differently, more distant. That hurt Alex. It made his feel like his dad was ashamed of Alex, of what he did on his missions.

Alex closed his eyes and relished in the feeling of the sun hit his face causing goosebumps to appear. It was a wonderful feeling that he normally wouldn't take the time to notice. This was the only place in camp where Alex could truly be himself and let his guard down. He didn't have to worry of someone else finding out where he was because Alex knew they couldn't care less.

Suddenly, Alex heard a slight crack in the woods behind him. He jumped up and scanned the woods for any sign of human life. He didn't find anything suspicious and even though he was probably over reacting, he sat down cross-legged facing the woods and waited. He didn't have to wait long staring at the dull brown of the trees before a man - a soldier, rather - walked into the sunlight making his face visible.

It was John, his dad.

Alex stood up and tensed up, narrowing his eyes.

"How did you find this place?" He asked, his voice silently accusing John of following him.

"I used to come here to think years ago when I was first here." John replied unfazed at the sudden question. "What I want to know is why you are here instead of in the mess hall listening to my stories with the rest of the soldiers."

"Because," Alex said, "I don't want to listen to your stories like the other soldiers." Alex emphasized the last part of the sentence to try to he this dad to understand how he was feeling.

John, however, was still confused. It's not that John was stupid, it was more so that he had never acted like a father towards anyone. Towards Ian, he was more of a mentor and best friend. Taking care of a baby was different than talking to a teenager. Teenagers didn't need to have their nappy changed, they didn't need to be fed and burped. Teenagers, Alex, was more secretive. All of his emotions weren't visible on his face, they were kept under wraps.

"So you don't want to be an other soldier?" John asked. John rubbed his face with his hand and sighed. "I—you don't want to be treated like a soldier?" There was a slight pause where John seemed to be figuring out how to say what he wanted. "Then how do I treat you?"

Alex looked at John for a moment in shock. 'Did he really not understand?' Alex thought.

"How did you treat Ian?" Alex asked randomly.

"Like he was my brother." John answered immediately.

"How did you treat mum?" Alex asked, his voice cracking on the last word.

"As a husband would treat a wife." John answered, his voice lowered.

"So I'm your SON. Maybe you should treat me like I'm your son!" Alex rose his voice but he wasn't yelling. He knew better than to draw soldiers to the sound of his voice. Alex made a noise of frustration, turned around and sat down. He stared towards the lake and the reflection of the sun while picking at the grass at his feet and ripping it into small pieces.

John sat down next to Alex and stared at the lake as well. Finally after a few minutes of silence he spoke, his voice a whisper, "I don't know how to." He turned to look at Alex but Alex looked ahead.

After a moment, "Well you can start by acknowledging my presence when I walk up to you or sit near you. Then you could talk to me a little, wake me up in the morning so I don't oversleep, be overprotective, be overly concerned that I'm going to get hurt. Just don't treat me like you treat the other soldiers—or like anyone else in the world. Treat me like I'm special, because I don't know how that feels."

John looked at Alex and his heart broke for the lost looking boy sitting next to him. John wrapped his arm around his son and pulled him closer. Alex let him because he was too emotionally drained to argue.

And then, "I'm sorry Alex. I didn't realize what I was doing. I didn't wake you up in the morning because I assumed your unit would. Looks, like they didn't. I noticed you sat next to me but I didn't say anything because I didn't know how the other soldiers would react to that. They could be jealous that I had my son with me and start bullying you."

Alex laughed quietly. "Dad, they wouldn't bully me because you're here. They're too scared of you."

"Well, you learn something everyday."

"Yeah, you do." A pause, "Thanks Dad, for everything."

John looked at his son, "I didn't do anything, it was all you. I'm proud of you."

Alex smiled and looked up at the clear sky, 'Maybe it was going to be a good day after all'. They sat like that for a while until John glanced at his watch.

"Shi-oot, we're late for the Covert Ops training," He said getting up and dusting himself off and ALex followed suit doing the same.

Alex smirked at his dad and said, "What are the soldiers gonna think..." John responded by ruffling the boys hair and taking off running with Alex following behind. They arrived at the large instruction room ten minutes late and walked in together. ALex kept his head down not wanting to see the stares of the other soldiers.

There were four present as there were only four units that were on active duty at the time. They were Units K, L, N, and, D. Alex walked over to where K-Unit was standing and faced the front of the room where his Dad was.

One of the soldiers called out, "Late sir?"

"But of course," John replied, "Where's the fun in being early or - god forbid - on time?" John grinned at the man who asked the question and received a chuckle in return. "So, today, we are here for a Covert Ops training because of the threat made by Scorpia against someone here in this camp. This training, as you probably know, is being taught by me. I talked to the Sergeant this morning to get everything set up so our first lesson is about the different techniques that can be used for torture."

"But sir," Spoke up Eagle, "Thats what RTI is for." John looked around the room making eye-contact with each soldier.

"If you think RTI is proper training, you are horribly mistaken. RTI doesn't teach you anything." John answered the question with unnerving ease as if he had experienced torture before. "Now, We are going to start this lesson by sharing each others experiences. Everything said in this room should stay in this room. It should not be talked about during dinner or over a game of cards. It is classified and it should stay classified. Is that understood?"

There was a chorus of "Yes sir" from the group except for Alex who responded with a smirk and a "Whatever you say dad". THe real lesson was about to begin and Alex was dreading it. His dad had said something about 'sharing each others experiences'. Did that include him? If it did...

* * *

Anatoli Malikov walked into his office on the top floor of his company headquarters and was greeted by his personal assistant.

"Good morning sir. Here is your freshly brewed coffee." She handed him the coffee pretending not to notice the sour mood Mr. Malikov was in. "You have a board meeting today at 2:00 and a conference with Mr. Sanders, your lawyer."

"What ever you say, Petty." Was the only response she got. Anatoli walked over to his desk and took a seat in his custom-made leather chair. He started sifting through the papers on his desk when he found an interesting envelope.

"If that would be all sir, I will be at my desk." Petty said and walked out of the office and closed the door.

"Yeah, yeah thanks," Anatoli said not noticing that she had already left the room. All of his attention was focused on the yellow envelope in front of him. He stuck his finger into the open corner and ripped the envelope open to find a sentence printed on cardstock paper.

**The mansion is ready and the evidence has been planted.**

Anatoli smiled a truly vicious smile and shredded the envelope along with the paper. His plan was ready to be executed. All he needed to do was blackmail Henri and Fritzi, but that shouldn't be too hard. How hard could taking over Scorpia be? However, taking over Scorpia was only one part of the plan. The other part was bringing down the government by using the evidence that had been planted in the computer of a high-ranking government official. But, the threat of Alex Rider had to be taken care of before all of this could happen. Which was why Anatoli had made a threat against Alex RIder in the name of Scorpia a week before Henri and Fritze decided to. Phase one of the plan, involving confusing MI6, was completed.

Anatoli sighed and rubbed his forehead. The task in front of his was daunting. Human beings were unpredictable but they could be controlled. And that was exactly what Anatoli Malikov planned to do. He needed to be able to manipulate the minds of the people to get them to think his way. His way being thinking along the lines of 'the government if controlled by old incompetent fools who only want to help themselves'. The only way he could do this was to make the people lose faith in the government officials. In his mind, his logic was foolproof.

* * *

**So do you guys want John to be the good guy or the bad guy? Share your thoughts, I want to know what you think!**

**-GIATC**


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